1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a tow hitch lunette assembly.
2. Background Art
Tow hitch assemblies are generally implemented in connection with a tow vehicle such as a truck and a towed vehicle such as a trailer and the like. Trailers for construction equipment and other heavy-duty trailers often use a hitch assembly having a lunette eye trailer tongue to provide mechanical coupling between the tow vehicle and the towed vehicle. The lunette tongue can include a rigid, durable, hitch ring or “eye” having a toroidal (i.e., “donut” or lunette) shape. The eye can be placed over or secured to a vertical post or pin, or latched into a pintle, or the like on the tow vehicle.
Referring to FIG. 1, an isometric perspective view of a conventional tow hitch assembly 10 is shown. The tow hitch assembly 10 generally includes a tow hitch lunette assembly 12 and a housing 14. The tow hitch lunette assembly 12 is offset (i.e., “zig-zag”, or “Z”) shaped to provide proper interface height between a tow vehicle and a towed vehicle having unequal tow point heights.
The tow hitch lunette assembly 12 is generally sized and shaped to slidably fit snugly into the housing 14. The housing 14 has apertures (holes) formed in respective side faces to provide for insertion of retention fasteners 16. The tow hitch lunette assembly 12 is generally mechanically fastened to the housing 14 via a plurality of the through-bolt/nut or pin fasteners 16. Additional components, assemblies, sub-assemblies, etc. such as electrical connectors, switches, surge dampers, and the like (not shown) may also be fastened to the housing 14 via respective holes using any appropriate fasteners (not shown). The tow hitch lunette assembly 12 is generally mechanically fastened to a tow vehicle hitch via an eye (or donut) portion 20. The housing 14 is generally mechanically coupled to the towed vehicle.
To provide adequate strength in an offset configuration, conventional offset tow hitch lunette assemblies such as the assembly 12 are typically made of cast metal (e.g., iron, steel, etc.) that is processed by surface grinding, machining, and drilling. As such, the conventional tow hitch lunette assemblies such as the assembly 12 are heavy and costly to manufacture. In addition, the cast metal in the offset configuration may be prone to fatigue failure.
Thus, there exists a need and an opportunity for an improved tow hitch lunette assembly. Such an improved tow hitch lunette assembly may overcome one or more of the deficiencies of the conventional approaches.